Chapter 4.1: Only Gold

The man’s long black hair was tied up, and his exquisitely handsome face had a bland expression as if he was not surprised by the arrival of the man in white.

The knights around saw this scene and were surprised that the “emperor” this man had been looking for was not their emperor of Arilance, but this man!

The knights couldn’t believe it. The white-robed man looked so powerful, but he was also an accomplice of a liar?

The idea that the man in front of them was a crook was so ingrained that when they saw them standing in one place, the knights subconsciously viewed the white-robed man as a liar as well.

“Emperor.” The white-robed man’s hoarse and piercing voice rang out as he hung his head and respectfully confessed to the man in front of him, “This subject and the others have been scattered.”

The man who sat leaning against the tree did not speak. His eyes fell on the white-robed man. His golden eyes were profound, like the most mysterious gems, and it was unknown what he was thinking about.

For a while, the forest was so quiet that only the people’s breathing could be heard.

After a long time, he raised his hand, white fingers gently gesturing behind himself.

The white-robed man immediately understood and instantly flashed behind the man with an amazing speed so fast that one could almost only see the other’s afterimage.

Was such speed really something that the human race could do?

Even the strongest among them, Ilir, could not help but have such a question. He looked warily at the white-robed man behind the black-haired man. This man was very strong, but why would such a person be involved with a crook?

Could the man in rags really be an emperor? This possibility was laughable, Ilir subconsciously denied.

The attention of the people present was drawn away by the white-robed man, and they did not notice the gentle tapping of Qiao Xingnan’s fingers placed on his lap.

The puppet can be driven to a hundred times the speed at maximum. Zero walking at this rate was nearly the same as teleportation.

Qiao Xingnan’s eyes flickered slightly, and his heart was clear. When he looked at the opposite group again, his expression was both cold and puzzled.

The steward frowned and took the initiative to step forward to explain: “Sorry, Your Excellency, this one behind you suddenly barged into the manor and alerted the knights on guard. We need to know his identity.”

Qiao Xingnan nodded in understanding and then gestured, “Zero.”

The white-robed man moved. He pursed the corners of his lips, and his hard jawline moved slightly, “The emperor’s knight, Zero.”

It was evident that both men were cold, indifferent, and not good with words.

“A genuine emperor, how can the knights around him cover up and not show their face.” One of the knights beside Ilir muttered somewhat unhappily. There was no telling where this fake got his helper from. He must be a fake knight too. Otherwise, how could he not dare to show his face openly?

Maybe he was a vagrant or a condemned man from somewhere. It’s really terrible.

The steward’s heart twitched, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he paid attention to Qiao Xingnan’s reaction.

The man glanced at the knight who said this, a little offended and displeased. His finger pointed lightly at the knight who spoke out and said rather casually: “Zero, see what it’s like to have shallow insight.”

“What! You lia…” Liar, before the last words could be uttered, a white figure flashed in front of him.

The knight’s eyes widened, looking at the large hood before him, feeling a moment of horror.

“Shut up.” The white-robed man’s hand gently rested on the knight’s shoulder, extremely close to the back of his neck. Zero seemed to carry a coldness all over his body, and his hoarse voice sounded like a threat, “It is not allowed to be disrespectful in front of the emperor.”

Ilir has been paying attention to the movements of the man in white. He was instantly alert in the first second of Zero’s disappearance, but it was still too late. Almost a breath away, Ilir found the white-robed man appearing in front of his subordinate. His left hand was even a millimeter away from the back of his subordinate’s lifeblood.

Ilir frowned and subconsciously tried to grab the other man’s arm to protect his subordinate.

However, before he could grab it, the white-robed man flashed and instantly returned behind the black-haired man.

He hung his head low, the white hood completely blocking his face as if all the movements of the white-robed man were just to keep the disrespectful man away from his emperor’s eyes.

The black-haired man walked down, one step at a time, very calmly, until he passed by the group. He only slightly raised his chin and spoke in a low voice with a hint of an emperor’s unique reserve: “Disrespect is a great sin. You are not my people, so this time, I forgive you.”

“However, there will be no next time.”

For a while, no one dared to speak, and it was only when the two figures disappeared before their eyes that the crowd slowly exhaled a breath.

“What are you pretending for? This is our Arilance’s territory.” A knight was dissatisfied with Qiao Xingnan’s condescension.

Whether he was really an emperor or not, it was disgusting to be so arrogant in their Arilance.

“He is not a real emperor, just a clown who can bluff!”

The knight next to him echoed the sentiment.

Only the knight who was threatened by Zero was quiet at this time. The cold breath of the white-robed man as he approached himself and the hand that suddenly appeared on the back of his neck left him with chills all over his body, and until now, he could not get over it.

It was as if, if he spat out the word liar, his neck would be snapped the next second.

Ilir had his hand on the hilt of his sword and looked at it. He didn’t think he would not even be able to grab the other man’s arm. Was it because he had been at the manor for a long time and slacked off?

The steward didn’t care about the discussion of the people around him. He frowned and pondered how the man had just behaved.

This was the second time he had seen the other man.

At their first meeting, the man who claimed to be the emperor was upset by the emperor’s absence from the manor. He kept muttering about “forgiving” their emperor and even scratching the bench with his fingernails in agitation.

At that time, he felt that the other party was not normal.

It was not until today’s meeting that he had some clarity, or rather guessed, that this self-proclaimed emperor, who had acted so rudely in the first place, might have done so simply because his character was too arrogant.

He couldn’t accept disrespect from anyone, including their emperor. His nervousness at the time may have been a sign of displeasure because he felt he was being belittled.

The steward wasn’t sure if his guess was right. If it was really because he felt slighted that he behaved that abnormally……then his character was too troubled.

None of their emperors were so proud as to be like that.

Thinking of this, the steward raised the other party’s status because of what had just happened or at least did not exactly see the other party as a psychotic liar anymore.

There was still a need to observe, and the person investigating should be back soon, the steward thought to himself.

Qiao Xingnan did not expect the steward alone would think so much, and he even vaguely guessed his persona.

In fact, the persona he thought of for himself was indeed very troublesome.

After all, in a script, the characters are its heart and soul. To become a true emperor in the eyes of the people, every aspect must be paid attention to.

The original body had contact with the steward. Although the original body thought he was an emperor after the mental breakdown and tried his best to fill this role, the performance was not as good as expected, especially in the face of the steward. It can be said to be very abnormal.

Also, based on the original body’s performance, Qiao Xingnan set several key images for himself, among which were arrogance and indifference.

Only a prideful emperor can’t stand to be stimulated and burst into rage when others don’t act according to his plan.

This was only the first act, and Qiao Xingnan’s purpose is simple: to make these people slightly change their impressions and not be as vocal as they were before.